


Bandit of Gravity Falls (a Showdown Bandit/Gravity Falls Crossover)

by ScorpioSnoopy666



Category: Gravity Falls, Showdown Bandit (Video Game)
Genre: Bandit isn't sure what to do at first, Crossover, Ford and Bandit bonding time, Gen, Homesick, New foes, Paranormal, Sentient Puppet, Showdown Bandit/Gravity Falls Crossover, The Journals, battles, but I will deviate from time to time to add in some fresh/original events, fighting for new family, new friend, themeatly, trying to stay within the canon episodes, who is pulling Bandit's strings?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-10-28 17:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20782619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScorpioSnoopy666/pseuds/ScorpioSnoopy666
Summary: Bandit wasn't sure how this came to be. One minute he's asleep in his box, the next he's waking up in an unfamiliar shack, not unlike the ones he'd seen before in Showdown Valley.How he's alive and able to communicate with the occupants, he will never know, but he sure is thankful for one of the old men repairing his broken strings, the other keeps trying to hound him for some sort of attraction.Both the younger twins seem taken by this new, curious marionette -albeit one being a little more suspicious than the other- but nobody knows for sure who's pulling on Bandit's strings this time, or how he's able to ascend and descend into whichever place he wants.After all, puppets aren't supposed really move around on their own.





	1. Into The Light

**Author's Note:**

> (Please note that all rights are reserved, I only own the plot of the story. Gravity Falls belongs to Alex Hirsch, and Showdown Bandit belongs to themeatly and Kindly Beast. Not only this, but the picture on the cover will stand in until I can either make or draw the cover. All rights reserved to the rightful owner on that poster.)  
(Another point; as bizarre as Gravity Falls is, I'll try and stay as close to the canon of both GF and Showdown Bandit as I possibly can, aside from my own headcannons for Bandit.  
One of them is he seems to 'teleport' by descending and ascending on his strings, which seem to go on and on to nowhere. There was another headcannon I made where Bandit can change his height at will, mainly to intimidate foes, but I might or might not leave it out for now and corporate it into any future stories with the puppet protagonist.)

How long has it been? How much more time would it be until he was freed from his velvet-lined prison? What was even going on out there? was the show on?  
It didn't sound like it. All he could hear was a conversation between a few people outside of the box, followed by the start of a bickering match between two more people.

He wasn't sure what was happening, or how long he was going to stay asleep in his box, but one thing was for sure; he was comfortable and was willing to stay asleep until needed for his part. With his hat brim lowered over his black-ringed eyes, Bandit quietly slept in his box, vaguely aware that the box was being shifted around.  
Bumps and thumps could be heard from outside, doors opening and shutting, beeping, and hisses of steam along with it, prompting the wooden captive to slowly half-open his eyes with a sleepy groan that was muffled by the seemingly clanking of engineering.

What was happening? and more importantly, where was the mystery person taking him?  
Bandit gently rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, his hat still on top of his head despite laying down horizontally inside the box. He felt the frayed ends of his broken strings in his hands gently brush against his arms, leading him to roll his glowing white eyes with a silent mouthed curse word, staring back up at the cracked lid of the box.

Feeling the box thump on some kind of table, Bandit could hear the snapping and clunking of the locks on his box opening, his eyes widening slightly in a surprised expression as he reached up to weakly straighten his hat.

What in tarnation was going on here, anyhow?!  
Hell if he knew, he supposed. Guess one of his friends or the puppeteers found him and were going to use him after all.

The face he saw after the lid swung open was not one of the puppeteers. Nor was he back in the studio for that matter.  
Instead he was met with a dimly lit lab with papers scattered around the floor and counters, unsettling green and gold lights shining above and below the bizarre looking room. There were a few binary-filled screens nearby, objects covered in dust sheets, glass containment rooms with buttons and dials, and -by the looks of things- the tip of a metal construct.  
He couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, but it was a big ol' thing that had a sharp point reaching for the sky.  
To top it off, an elderly man with silvery hair and a dusty old trench-coat was peering down at him, black-rimmed glasses pinched over the bridge of his bulbous, orange nose. In the hazy lighting, Bandit could just make out he was wearing a sweater and had some kind of gun -his hand reflectively reaching for his own cork-shot pop pistol.

Not only this, but......did the man have.....six fingers on each hand?

He didn't have time to examine the man closer before the six-fingered hand reached in and surprisingly scooped him up gently, Bandit having tried to back up into the box in a futile attempt to escape whatever fate awaited him.  
Wasn't much he could do with broken strings, though.  
Ford examined the writhing puppet in his hands, glancing around at his desk for string, before looking at the scowling wooden cowboy who was weakly trying to kick his legs and push at his hand.

"I'm not going to hurt you, little guy" Ford spoke up in a soft voice so as not to unnerve Bandit any more than he already was, making the wriggling puppet stop in surprise, his pupils slightly dilating as he stared at the strange new human. He felt his 'breathing' start to steady itself again, Bandit trying to find a way out of this.

He stayed silent, watching as the elder scientist look in boxes and drawers, before coming back with some string and scissors, getting to work mending the strings as quickly as he could.  
To Ford's surprise, when the new strings were attached to the limbs and head of Bandit, they seemed to almost act on their own, straightening up and disappearing, becoming thinner until they were barely visible to the naked eye.  
The sudden jerking of the strings forced the bandit up, the aforementioned marionette letting out a yelp and pained scream before standing straight, the strings embedding themselves in their rightful places, the strings seeming to go on and on into oblivion.

"T-thanks, there, sir" Bandit said, still a little shell-shocked. His Southern twang wavered slightly, though he tried to steel himself as he moved to stand comfortably in his usual gunslinger stance.

Ford pushed his glasses up to keep them from falling off, and gave a small nod to Bandit.  
"Not a problem" he replied. "It was the least I could do. How long were you trapped in there, anyways? who left you?"  
"Beats me" the marionette said with a shrug, tilting his head so his stapled-up chip on his jaw was displayed, looking like a battle scar from a brawl. Probably was, too, it had been a while since he got it on set.  
"It's been a while since I been on the set of Showdown Valley, an' up until now, I've been asleep for quite a while. I can't remember who left me out there, though" he sighed, folding his arms as he glanced away in thought before turning his gaze back to Ford.  
"Hmm...well, the important thing is that you're fixed now. Judging by the new strings, they should hopefully hold up for a while" Ford informed him, earning a silent "thanks" from the puppet in the form of a tip of the hat, a somewhat guilty half-smile on his face; a clear juxtaposition for his reputation as a vigilante bandit.

"Sorry for the, uh...well....it don't matter. It's a long story as ta why I did it" Bandit replied, Ford waving his six-fingered hand as if to say that he didn't have to worry.  
"Understood" Ford replied, seeing the marionette move around as if on his own. Well, with his strings in order, of course, investigating the contents of the desk.

"What's your name, by the way?" Ford asked, grasping the attention of the puppet.  
"Huh? Oh! uh, I'm Showdown Bandit" he replied with a grin. "Y'know, same name of th' show I'm part of. Though most of mah co-stars called me Bandit, so you can too, if you wanna."  
"Nice to meet you, Bandit. I'm Ford" Ford acknowledged him, carefully taking Bandit's wooden hand into his own for a polite handshake, letting him go. Bandit flipped the brim of his hat back up, hands on his hips again.  
"Ford, huh? cool name ya got there!" Bandit spoke up, making Ford smile faintly. "An', if ya don't mind me askin', where'd I end up, anyways?"

"You're in The Mystery Shack, in Gravity Falls. Well, the basement of it, to be more precise" Ford replied. "It's a place where I like to study and gather data on the different anomalies of this town. I've been keeping track of them and of things outside of this town for years" he added proudly, Bandit raising his brows in wonder.  
"Wow, sure sounds like a fine thing to study! I take it I'd count as one of them?" Bandit joked wryly.  
"Actually yes, you don't really get many marionettes communicating with humans" Ford stated. "How can you communicate with us, or even move around? where do your strings go?"  
Again, Bandit shrugged his shoulders, and Ford sighed.  
"Alright, I'll hold off on the questions for now, you must still want to be knowing about the place. I can help out on that front, though I do warn you; some folks may be a little surprised to see a living puppet" he warned.  
"No problem, partner!" Bandit exclaimed, sounding excited. His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, eager to know more about the town known as Gravity Falls.

From what he could guess, it was a lot bigger than Showdown Valley. But with Ford as his potential guide, Bandit couldn't be more curious and excited.  
For now, of course, he was content with watching Ford work from on top of his -now closed- box, asking questions about the anomalies and getting him writing equipment from time to time, shooting at little critters with his pop pistol when they got too close to either of them.

Ford chuckled, opening up his third journal, and beginning to scrawl a new title on a fresh page in the journal; "Showdown Bandit."


	2. New In Town

"Everyone get down!! Don't let it taste human flesh!!"

The yell was muffled slightly by the furniture and distance between the dungeon and the main floor above, a multitude of voices clamouring as someone chased a screeching thing across the floor.  
It was enough, however, to wake Bandit from the sound sleep he was previously in.  
He groaned tiredly, looking a little grumpy that he had been woken up so rudely, pushing at his box with numb hands.  
It swung open , his strings allowing Bandit to sit up and move easily, the surreal wooden Western vigilante scrambling out of his box and nearly face-planting the desk.

Thank God for the strings, though, huh? He let the strings get him back up, walking over and closing the lid of the box, locking it when he heard the judder of the elevator clunking down the shaft and down towards the basement.  
He looked back over, scooting to sit on the lid of his box, one leg resting across his lap and the other lower leg swinging idly, only to see Ford walking back into the room with an unconscious squid-looking thing that carried with it the foulest smell.  
If Bandit had a nose, it would be bleeding, but that didn't mean he couldn't somewhat smell it.

"What the heck happened up th- uugh, what is that?!" Bandit exclaimed, a dry heave following before he pulled his bandanna up over his nose and mouth.  
"Sorry to wake you, Bandit. The Cycloptopus escaped again, and I've only just wrangled it" Ford replied, Bandit watching as he put the ungodly-smelling thing in a specimen jar and closing the lid.  
Bandit dry-heaved again, one hand on his wooden torso where his stomach ought to be, the other hand balled in a fist and put to his mouth slightly to keep anything from coming up.  
"Uuugh, that's just nasty!" Bandit said, his Southern Drawl a little more pronounced again, which made Ford laugh. As far as Bandit could tell, either Ford couldn't smell it, or he was trying to ignore it and get rid of the scent with some kind of ventilator thing. Though, he could swear that Ford's face was beginning to turn green.

After the disgusting scent was cleared -thanks to a ventilator and about three tubes of deodorant spray- Ford and Bandit soon found it easier to breathe the cool air of the basement again.  
Bandit hopped back up onto his box, Ford tracing over the sketch of the Cycloptopus in his journal to make it more defined, looking up at Bandit to make sure he was ok and wasn't getting into any mischief.  
At the minute, Bandit was watching the jar with an eerie glare of his glowing white eyes, beady black pupils trained on the thing, and with his Pop Pistol at the ready.

"It's alright, it's not gonna come back out for a good while" Ford reassured Bandit, grabbing his attention.  
"Yeah, it better not" Bandit snarled, aiming the words at the now cowering octopus-like creature, scowling, though Ford smiled softly.  
"I can assure you it won't. Plus it usually goes after humans, and not puppets. You'll be alright" Ford said, though Bandit countered with a "don't mean it can't try."  
Ford chuckled and shook his head, leafing through the journal and stopping at the pages labelled "Showdown Bandit", twirling his pen between his six fingers.

"What have ya written my name down for?" Bandit asked, the audible 'clack!' noise coming from his boots colliding with the wooden desk, a soft jingling of spurs could be heard as he walked closer to Ford, who was writing something in the journal, not receiving an answer.  
Stealing a glance, Bandit smirked and tapped Ford on the arm to make him look up, before posing with his pop pistol thrust forward to the air in front of Ford.  
The scientist looked confused, then let out an "Aaah!" before sketching Bandit in that particular stance, showing it to Bandit when he was done.

"Hey, that's pretty neat!" Bandit said with a small chuckle, grinning as Ford gave a light nod of appreciation.  
"Is it alright to ask some questions for the journal?" Ford asked, to which Bandit replied, "Sure thing!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a few questions and jokey conversations, Ford had finished writing down as much information on Showdown Bandit as he can, and he was rather impressed with his two main abilities, not to mention his skill with the pop pistol that was alarmingly more powerful than it seemed from first glance.  
They continued talking, until the most peculiar sound was heard nearby.

A rumble and a scream, followed by a loud THUMP! on the floor of the basement.

Ford motioned Bandit to make himself scarce, the marionette jumping down off of the desk to hide underneath a control panel, peeking out from the darkness as a shadowy shape walked towards something that had rolled into the study space.  
The specimen jar holding the Cycloptopus had broken during the fall of the intruder, who seemed to be reaching for some kind of die. He'd never seen anything like it, and it fascinated the sentient puppet.  
He watched the new person reach for it, until-

"DIPPER!! STOP!!"  
It was Ford's voice!

This apparent 'Dipper' looked up in shock as Ford glared down at them; at least, that's what Bandit could see from his hiding spot. He could hear the lecture Ford was giving the teen who looked no older than, what? thirteen or so? Granted, Bandit didn't look much older than him either, but that was besides the point.  
However, the lecture stopped as soon as Ford spotted the multiple-sided die from the game.  
"Is that what I think it is?! A 38 sided die from Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons?!" he exclaimed.  
Nervously but excitedly, with a cracking voice and a glint in his eye, Dipper piped up; "Yeah, it is!! And I've been looking for someone to play it with me all day!"

"Wargh!! Uh, Mr Ford, sir? Li-lil help here?!" came a voice, startling Dipper and alerting Ford.  
Ford looked over, seeing the Cycloptopus eyeing something under the desk.....something small and made of wood.....  
Bandit scowled, Pop Pistol at the ready, and a pen nib being brandished at the hissing thing, trying to ward it off.  
"Back the heck off me, ya darn critter, or I WILL shoot!!" came the same Southern voice. "Go on, get!!"

"Hey! you leave him alone!" Ford growled at the alien-esque being who made a bubbling growl sound.  
Ford slipped on a glove and lobbed it across the other side of the room, kneeling down to seek out his minuscule guest.  
"Are you alright?" Ford asked, Dipper staring bug-eyed at the space under the table.  
"I am now...thanks, Ford" something said.  
Dipper couldn't believe his eyes when the talker came out of hiding!!!  
It was a doll.....no, a marionette....with very thin strings tied around his arms, legs and head to make him move. He was wearing a dark-coloured set of clothes, an orange bandanna around his neck tied loosely so it could be moved to mask his face.  
He was holding a brightly-coloured cork pistol and a rusty pen nib close to him, looking up at Ford .

But what was this?  
The wooden male ascended on his strings, zooming to Ford and resting on his right shoulder like a parrot, holding onto his coat as Ford stood back up.  
Dipper was gaping, jaw hitting the floor at the new resident of the basement, whereas Ford was perfectly casual about it, as if it were just an everyday thing.  
Then again, strange things were a regular occurrence in a town as weird as Gravity Falls. The living marionette was proof of that.

"Dipper, I'd like you to meet Showdown Bandit" Ford said formally, Bandit whizzing down on his strings so he landed at Dipper's feet.  
Dipper looked down, nervous, seeing the pen nib had been taken away by Ford, and the pistol was holstered.  
"Uuuh, h-hi" Dipper replied, looking down at Bandit.  
"Well howdy, there, Dipper! might fine ta meet ya! Y'all can call me Bandit, if it's easier. Oh, hold on" Bandit said, stepping back.

Both Ford and Dipper looked confused at this, only to see Bandit standing in the middle of the room.  
As if by magic, Bandit started....growing?!  
He had his eyes shut, and when he opened them, he was at the same height as the teen, his clothes and hat still accustomed to his stature to fit him.  
Ford looked through his notes on Bandit in the journal, and added to the profile where necessary, specifically about the demonstrated change of height. His theory was that Bandit could shift into any height he wanted, but also had a limit; how he was going to test this, he wasn't sure.

"There! now I can give ya a proper handshake" Bandit said, shaking Dipper's hand.  
Dipper marvelled at the guy right in front of him. He seemed to be sentient. Alive. Just like him.  
Though made out of wood and strings, Bandit could walk, talk, feel emotions, fear, and much more. It was incredible!

Bandit grinned happily, excited to have a new friend, his eyes turning to the dice in Dipper's hand.  
"May I see that?" Bandit asked, looking at the die, which Dipper handed over cautiously.  
Of course, Bandit wasn't going to pocket it....probably...nah! he was more interested in looking at it for now.  
"Never SEEN a die with so many sides. How's that possible?!" Bandit asked, rolling and flipping it between his wooden fingers. "I only thought dice had six sides!"  
"It's specially made by the company who make this game. There are some six-sided dice in the box, but there are others with more, some with less" Ford explained. "It's to help with rolling statistics and coming up with special moves in the game."  
"Wow! By gum, that is somethin'!" Bandit gasped, rolling the dice in his palm again with another whispered "wow!"  
"I-If you want, we can teach you how to play the game?" Dipper asked Bandit, feeling the marionette's beady eyes shift and lock onto him; it gave him the creeps, but if Bandit was friendly at the moment, then he guessed he could trust him for now.

"I'd love that" Bandit replied happily, helping Dipper and Ford set up the game.  
"How do you play?"


End file.
